Patna, Nov. 17: Savitri Devi from Sheikhpura and Pinki Rani from Danapur never thought their visit to district magistrate Sanjay Kumar Singh’s janata darbar would turn into a session on gender equality.

Their craving to get a male child resulted in giving birth to consecutive girl children. The district magistrate took notice of this and tried to educate them on gender bias.

Savitri Devi, who was accompanied by her mother-in-law at the darbar, did not hesitate to say that she and her family desperately wanted a male child.

“All my family members wanted a male child. I gave birth to a boy only after delivering six girls. My in-laws and husband settled for nothing else than a male child. Now, I am not able to financially support them,” Savitri said.

She visited the darbar to seek financial help from the administration after her house recently gutted.

The district magistrate first gave a patient hearing to the woman’s problem.

Then, he said: “Who told you to give birth to so many children? Do you have any idea how difficult it is to run a family with so many children? Why did you wait for a male child? Aren’t you happy with girls? The urge for a male child has ruined your life. You could have avoided the problem had your family been small. The mentality needs to change,” Singh said.

Both Savitri and her mother-in-law left the darbar without a word.

A few minutes later, another woman, Pinki Rani from Danapur, entered the darbar and narrated her problem regarding a land dispute to the district magistrate.

When Singh asked her background, Pinki said she has six children and has studied till Class XII.

Singh immediately said: “Don’t you feel ashamed of yourself? Despite being an educated woman, your urge for a male child resulted in the birth of five more? This is unacceptable. Be a responsible citizen first.”

He added: “Nothing can be done now. Make sure that all your children get a good education.”

When asked about his sudden outburst at the women, Singh told The Telegraph: “The government is running several programmes, including Mukhyamantri Balika Sarva Shiksha Yojana and Mukhyamantri Balika Cycle Yojana, for girls. These were implemented to stop parents from discriminating between girls and boys.”

He added: “We need to change the mindset of the people who resort to gender bias. It is a very serious issue. There is a lack of awareness but slowly people are accepting that there is no difference between a male and a female child.”